Zags rout Saint Mary’s for WCC title, NCAA berth

LAS VEGAS (AP)—Patty Mills had been in this gambling mecca long enough to
figure out the odds. Even if Saint Mary’s star point guard was at his inimitable
best, his Gaels were a long shot to derail deeply talented, tournament-tested
Gonzaga.

With Mills nowhere even close to good, the Zags rolled on to bigger stages
and better opponents in another NCAA tournament.

Matt Bouldin had 14 points and seven assists for the relentless Zags (26-5)
in a win showcasing the depth and balance that could make them a maddening March
opponent. Nobody needs to tell Mills, who went 2-for-16 in his second game back
from a broken hand.

“I don’t think we were ready at all, (and) you can’t come into a game
against Gonzaga with a bad effort,” said Mills, who had been out since Jan. 29.
“They knew what they were playing for, and we had no idea.”

With six Zags scoring in double figures and playing even better on defense,
they followed up their perfect regular-season conference slate with a second
blowout win in the WCC tournament, giving them 19 victories in their last 20
games.

“If we play like that in the NCAA tournament, we’re going to go a really,
really, really long way,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “We’re playing better
than we have all year. … When a team puts it together like that over the
course of a weekend, it’s a beautiful sight to see.”

Gonzaga has won eight of the last 12 WCC tournaments, but few were so
smoothly conquered. The Zags have won 16 straight conference games, and they’ve
beaten Saint Mary’s in 26 of their last 29 meetings.

The Gaels (25-6) finished with a season-worst 19-for-66 shooting, and Mills
managed just five points while missing all seven of his 3-point attempts. The
one-sided loss endangers the Gaels’ hopes for the first back-to-back NCAA
tournament bids in school history.

Diamon Simpson had 19 points and nine rebounds for the Gaels, who must hope
the NCAA selection committee appreciates their potential enough to overlook a
poor performance in their biggest game of the season.

“We’ll just say some prayers on Saturday night,” said Omar Samhan, who had
17 points and nine rebounds. “God, I’d love to be in the tournament again …
but we wouldn’t have to worry about it at all if we had taken care of business
tonight.”

There are no such concerns for Gonzaga, which lost the WCC tournament final
to San Diego last year. The Zags’ only blemish since New Year’s Day is a
nonconference loss to No. 4 Memphis.

“I think we’re peaking at the right time,” Bouldin said. “I thought our
momentum was great coming into this weekend. We have eight or nine guys who can
score 20 in a night. I think that’s our strength by far, and we all play
together on defense, too.”

Larry Sanders added 18 points, and set championship
game records with 20 rebounds and seven blocks for the Rams (24-9), who stunned
Duke in the first round of the NCAAs two years ago.

The defending CAA champion Patriots (22-10) trailed 30-19 at halftime and
did little to slow Maynor, the two-time CAA player of the year, or the
disruptive Sanders, who had four blocks in the first half and largely shut down
George Mason’s inside game.